Lone Wolf: I Stand Alone
by Crystal Arrow
Summary: Aiko is a demon, but she has finally found safe haven in a farming village. But now Inuyasha and the gang are come for the village shards, with Sesshoumaru coming for Tetsusaiga. Trouble is guaranteed. oc/Sess HIATUS
1. Chapter 1: Where it all Began

Lone Wolf

****

I stand alone…..

By Crystal Arrow

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters form Rumiko Takashi's 'Inuyasha'. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter One: Where it all began…..

The story you are about to be told, began long before it takes place, about seventeen years before to be exact. It began in England, in the year 1983. By this point in time, most demons had been wiped out around the world, leaving a planet ruled by humans. However, some demons remained, lurking in the country side, living in secret worlds hidden from humans, who had now gained the power of advanced weapons which could kill even the most powerful of demons.

Though very few demons remained, the ones that did were strong and proud, which is how this story began. It was in the bare country of England where an English demon vixen gave birth to a single pup under the protective eye of her mate, a demon with the power of darkness tamed within him. With the sun rose the next morning, providing light for the demon couple to see their new child, they were horrified. The tiny child the vixen held had no demonic features or power emanating from her, the little girl actually looked and smelled every bit like a human. She was human! The demon couple was horrified by the child, and scared of what their demon neighbors would say when they saw them with a human child.

After much debate between the couple, the father made a deal with the teary eyed new mother, to get rid of the child. The kitsune stayed behind as her mate flew away, as far as he could get with his newborn child. From England, he flew all the way to Japan where no one would identify his or his mate's traits in the child, him being a rather well known and powerful demon in England. By the time he made it to a city, the child was shivering and cold, huddling close to him for warmth. He ignored the tearing of his heart as his daughter he would never know cried out to him as he left her on a park bench in the middle of Tokyo. He quickly disappeared from Tokyo, leaving the shivering child alone with nothing but a thin blanket in the cold nights of spring in Japan.

It was not until late dawn when a man going for an early morning jog came across the freezing newborn. In shock of who would leave a newborn out alone on such a cold day, he ran the child to the nearest hospital where she was placed in a heated incubator for warmth. She was all over then news, the cute foreign baby left abandoned in the park that needed a loving family. She got sympathy from nearly everybody in Tokyo, but no home. After a few months of being passed from nurse to nurse to be cared for, the child was sent to an orphanage. 

Over the years, the little girl grew as she was passed from orphanage to orphanage all over Japan. She would happily congratulate her friends when they were adopted into living families, then cry every night in despair and longing for a home. She had no name, for no one ever named her, she was called child, baby, girl, orphan and countless other names that could be used for any other orphan, yet when used by the other children or nurse maids at the orphanage, they always knew it was her being spoken of. 

As the girl reached four, she began to be separated from the other the other orphans for they constantly teased and mocked her for not being wanted, and because she looked different. Her eyes ere green and large, which was very odd, and her hair was very curly. The other girls didn't play with her and often forced her out of the bed chambers or shower rooms resulting in her sleeping alone in the halls without a blanket and becoming rather dirty from lack of being cleaned. Despite all of this, she smiled at the other girls, and always wished them a happy future in their new homes.

At five years old, the girl ran away from the eleventh orphanage she'd been at. She climbed from the third floor windows just before dusk and ran towards the city. She didn't know why she didn't just run towards the country side, no one would ever bother her there, but she felt that her future would lie in that city. She went unnoticed by all of the caretakers, so no one came to look for her when the sun rose the following morning revealing her alone and scared in the shadows of an ally as gangsters searched for her, wanting to have some with the innocence of this child that intruded upon their street in the slums of the city. 

It was approximately seven o'clock in the morning when a couple turned into the street the gang claimed as their territory. The woman was tall for a woman, and had a regal look to her. Her husband was taller than her, and also had a regal feel to his image. In fact the woman was descended from a line of powerful priestesses and her husband a descendent of one of the advisors to the emperor of Japan some where back in time. The woman, Ayaka, was in her early thirties. Her husband, Kazuki, was a few years older than her. As Ayaka and Kazuki walked down the empty street, Ayaka was crying on Kazuki's shoulder in desperation, for they were returning from the hospital after their seventh try on having a child. For the past ten years, this Japanese couple had been trying to have a baby, but each time Ayaka became pregnant, the child would either die just moments after birth, or die in miscarriage. The doctors had actually begun to suggest that the couple give up on having children, for it seemed impossible for them. Two nights ago, their seventh child died exactly fifteen minutes after birth, for reasons yet to be identified, which brought Ayaka and Kazuki to their present location on the gang's street on their way home.

Walking silently down the street, they were confronted by four teenage boys with Mohawks, tattoos, baggy clothing and piercing in the oddest and most disturbing places. They began to threaten to rape and kill Ayaka if Kazuki didn't give them all of his money and just turn away and leave his wife to them. Teary eyed, Ayaka hid behind Kazuki as he lowered himself into a fighting stance before the four boys. With a deathly glare, the most fearsome looking of the gangsters called out to unseen members of the gang. From out of windows, doorways and allies, more gangsters crowded the narrow street. Within a minute, Kazuki and his wife were surrounded by twenty some fearsome looking teenagers and adults, all glaring at him.

From behind a garbage can, the orphan girl peered at the couple that now obtained the full attention of the gang. She was scared for them, but scared for herself as well. She stayed quietly hidden in the darkness as some of the closer standing gang members charged at the man defending his wife. She gasped as he easily defeated all of them. Kazuki was strong, and fast, but that was not enough to defeat an entire gang of street fighters. Soon enough, all of the gang had leapt into the fray in the middle of the street. The orphan was scared. She heard the woman yelling out in protest and the grunting of the man as he fired blow after blow to offending gangsters. 

After a few minutes, the weaker of the gang members lay strewn about the street unconscious or in serious pain. Only a few remained fighting the man in the middle. His wife had retreated, and stood several feet away, clutching her hands over her heart in prayer for her husbands safety. Suddenly, the orphan caught a glimpse of one of the gangsters pulling out a gun a an army knife being flicked out. It was in this split second that the orphan made the one decision that would decide her future, she sealed her fate in one moment of true bravery and courage, that proved her to be more than any mere human, she was a demon child.

The man with the gun stepped slightly out of the way of the fighting and aimed his weapon at Kazuki's chest. Just before he pulled the trigger, the orphan girl jumped out of behind the garbage can and yelled out, "Hey, street scum, coward, stop picking on the innocent! If you need a still target for your horrid aim, I'M RIGHT HERE!!!" In that moment, everyone stopped as the gunman turned around to the girl that dared insult him so. He raised the gun to aim at the child's heart and fired three consecutive shots from center, to left, to right. Kazuki ran forward and rammed the man into the ground before he could fire more. All three shots hit the girl, but she didn't flinch as each bullet went straight through her thin chest, each just narrowly missing her heart. Ayaka cried out in fear as the two remaining men ran towards the girl that shed no blood. 

With the gunman knocked unconscious, Kazuki knocked out the man closer to him before he could run to the child. The last man ran to the orphan and hit her hard against the back of the head. She fell unconscious to the floor as he prepared to stab her, but he never did, for as he raised the army knife over the child, he fell over dead, with a bullet in his brain. 

Kazuki and Ayaka ran to inspect the child that had been shot, only to find, there were no wounds to her chest, not even a hole in her dirty cotton shirt. All they found was a very thin scrape on her neck, as though it had been graze by a speeding bullet….which it had. It dawned on the couple that the child had indeed dodged the three bullets. They didn't know how, nor did they care, this child had saved Kazuki from being shot, which would have resulted in Ayaka being raped. The police and ambulance arrived several minutes later to find a street full of unconscious gangsters, and one dead one. 

Kazuki and Ayaka returned to the hospital with the little orphan girl. When she awoke several hours later, she did not remember being shot at, but only being saved from the dangerous gang by this really nice man and his wife that now stayed by her bed side. Then, when the child told Kazuki and Ayaka that she was an orphan that had run away from the orphanage, the couple immediately went to the orphanage. They met with the manager of the orphanage, who kept trying to apologize for not keeping a good eye on the child, which was now asleep in the bed chambers.

After much debate with a doubtful manager, Kazuki and Ayaka told him that it did not bother them that the girl had gotten ,out for it had given them a chance to meet her. So, after a few hours, the couple left the office smiling, for they were finally parents. They had adopted the little orphan girl that nobody wanted, for they fell in love with her that morning.

So when the girl was told the great news, and led to the couple waiting for her out front, she was greeted, for the very first time in her life, with open arms. They were in the front courtyard of the orphanage, with their car parked in the drive a distance away. The day had passed and the sun was beginning to set, tinting the sky in beautiful shades of pink, orange and purple. 

Ayaka knelt before her new daughter, smiling happily. She held the girl's hands within her own as she introduced herself and her husband to the little girl. Still smiling warmly, Ayaka asked, "Now, my little one, what is your name?"

"I don't have one." she answered politely.

Kazuki frowned. Slightly worried, Ayaka asked, "don't you remember it?"

"I've never had one," the little girl answered again, "No one ever named me, but you can call me orphan, that's what they know me as."

"Why, that's simply terrible," Kazuki said frowning, he then smiled, "We're just going to have to give you a name."

"I know the perfect name." Ayaka said smiling. Kazuki kneeled beside her, and she whispered something into his ear. He smiled and nodded in approval. "You're name, my precious one, if you so desire, will be Aiko."

They waited for an answer from their daughter. For the first time, they saw her smile at them. " I'd love to be you're little Aiko!" she cried, jumping into their waiting arms. So, little Aiko, with absolutely no possessions except for the cotton shirt and skirt she wore hugged her new parents, crying in her joy as they held her close. She finally had a family, she finally had a name, now she must face her future.

Author's note:

Okay, I finally got the first chapter done. Finally! This chapter was more like a story being told, the following chapters will be more like present time, happening right now. Oh, and for the rating, the story may not seem so bad, but I don't know about the issues in here, and eventually, there's going to be some bad potty mouths, so, just for future reference. Please review, I love to know I have support.

~Crystal Arrow


	2. Chapter 2: A Normal Life

Lone Wolf

****

I stand alone…..

By Crystal Arrow

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Two: A Normal Life…

Beep…Beep…Beep…CRASH!!!

The alarm clock met a sad end, falling into a very disgusting trash can while being turned off. Upon colliding with the different hard objects inside of my trash can, the thing cracked and the sound died pitifully. "Aiko, is everything alright?" my mother called from the hallway, "It sounds like something broke."

Turning over in bed, I called back, "It's okay, I'm just going to need a new alarm clock."

I stretched, it is impossible for me to just get up from sweet slumber, it always takes me forever to get up. With a contented sigh, I pull the blankets up to my chin. My room was nice and dark, just like I liked it, with no disturbances and no troubles to look forward to…until Mom comes in. My mom, Ayaka comes in every morning exactly ten minutes after I get up when my alarm sounds. She opens the blinds in my sweet little room exposing me to all the troubles of the world again with the light of the beautiful sunrise every morning. She then drops my ironed school uniform on top of me and warns me that my breakfast will get cold if I don't hurry up.

However, until then, I can relax, and get ready for the day my way. Snuggling in bed, I close my eyes and return to the wonderful land of slumber. "Rise and shine, sweet heart!" Mom called as she opened the blinds. I groan as the uninvited light invades my eyes. I try to pull the covers over my head, but instead get my school uniform, freshly ironed, dropped on my head. "Hurry up, Aiko, before your breakfast gets cold."

""I'm up!"

"That's a good girl." 

Picking up my clothes, I go into the hallway and into the bathroom. Hanging my uniform for the handle, I tie up my hair, my puffy, wild, shoulder length hair that somehow turned into waves when brushed properly. After a quick shower, I get myself wrapped up in my towel and brush my teeth and wash my face. After getting dressed, I release my wild hair and comb it out, yet again managing to tame it. With one last look in the mirror at my green skirt and white blouse, I turn out of the bathroom and rush downstairs. 

I practically jump into my seat and immediately start eating. "How's your breakfast today, sweetie?" My mom asks, smiling down at me.

"As great as always, Mom!" I say after gulping down a mouthful of pancake. 

Across from me, my dad, Kazuki, is reading the paper. "Slow down sweet heart, before you choke on your food." Smiling at him, I finish my last bite as he finishes his sentence. Looking up at me, he shakes his head, smiling. "Have a nice day in school, honey."

Rising from the table, I hand my plates to mom, "Okay, Daddy. See you later, Mommy, Daddy." With a wave I rush out of the kitchen and back up to me room where I put on my shoes and pick up my bag. Rushing back downstairs, I pass the kitchen and wave good bye one more time before heading to school. "Bye!!"

Running down the street, I see another girl walking ahead of me. She was a native Japanese, with black hair and dark eyes, but her hair was cropped short, like a boy's. "Hey, Kai!!" I shout.

"Hey, Aiko, I see you forgot your glasses again today." Kai greeted me.

"Nope, got them in my bag." I answer.

"For once." 

"Hey! I resent that you know."

Swinging her arm over my shoulder, she leaned on me and laughed, "Has that ever stopped me?"

"Sadly no." I giggle. This is how we always head to school. We walk together, having mock fights and teasing each other. It's fun. Oh, and about the glasses, I can see without them, it's just that some accident back when I was in the orphanage strained a nerve in one of my eyes. When my parents adopted me, the doctor said I should get glasses just so I don't strain the nerve so far that I loose full vision in that eye. But that doesn't stop me from forgetting my glasses!

As you most likely have figured out, my name is Aiko. I'm a girl of who knows what origin adopted by Japanese parents. I don't like to recall my time in the orphanage, those were sad times, so I just think about the present. I have green eyes, and I wear glasses. I'm 15, and am a freshman in high school. Kai is my best friend. I like my life, I don't care that the other girl's in school talk about me behind my back, I don't care, because I have friends that understand me, like Ryushi and Kana, and Kai. I don't need friends that won't like me. So, this is my life, it's the year 2000, and things are great. 

Today is great, I'm heading to school with my best friend, Kai, just like I do every other day, nothing could possibly go wrong! Several minutes later, Kai and I reach our school. We were freshman here, so we were practically invisible, however it seems that a certain junior was not. Every day, if she wasn't there, all of her friends would be talking worriedly about this, Kagome girl being sick with some odd diseases that she could not possibly have at her age! Yet the other girls, most of which, friends of Kagome, actually believed it! Not that I care, I don't even know the girl, and I don't care to. Kagome was probably just like all the other girls in school, none of them even know that I exist. 

Kai and I passed by a group of junior girls, talking worriedly that Kagome had come down with Down Syndrome, which was absolutely impossible. Down Syndrome was a genetic disorder, a person would not come down with, but have since birth, which Kagome obviously didn't. With a sigh, we passed them by. The day passed just like any other day, I went to my classes, had paper wads thrown at me, heard people talking about me behind my back and teachers be clueless on who the other students were dissing, even when they called me by name and I was in fact in that teacher's class. But hey, that happened every day, and I never let it get me down, today is no different. When the bell rang at two, I left with Kai and headed home, just like any other day.

When I reached home at 2:15, I was greeted by my dad, back home early from work. "Hey, Daddy!" I called out when I came in through the back door.

"Hello sweetie, how was school today?" he asked.

"The usual, nothing special today."

"That's good. You have martial arts class tonight, make sure you get your homework done before then." Dad said.

"Okay, Daddy" was my reply as I hugged him when I found him reading the paper in the living room. With a kiss to my forehead, he sent me up to my room so I could get started on my homework. 

I had a lot of homework tonight, but that was according to the other kids. With at least one assignment from every class, I still managed to finish my homework within half an hour. At 2:45, I was finished with all of my homework, as usual.

Now, do you want to know a secret? I'm not here right now. Funny huh? I'm telling you this story from within my mind. I'm in an empty space void, heading who knows where. Today was normal, just like any other day. Do you want to know how I got here? Huh, it's sad, it was just a normal day. At four o'clock, I kissed both of my parents good bye and entered my martial arts school for the last time. I watched as my parents who had taken such good care of me turned away from me and walked away. They had chosen the orphan that nobody wanted, and raised me with more love than I ever knew existed, I wish I could have thanked them… HELL!! I WISH THIS WASN'T HAPPENING!!!

Dressed in my heavy red martial arts uniform, my green belt tied about my waist, I fell into line, Kai in front of me, as usual, her already being a red belt. After stretching and getting warmed up, the master of the school called for us to practice our kicks. The entire class was standing before him, ready for him to signal for us to kick. You should have felt that darkness I felt when the floor disappeared, I was so scared. All of the instructors and students fell through the floor. I remember the shocked screaming and cries of fear from the people around me. I didn't scream, I was too scared. So this is where I am, in an empty void of space, seemly frozen in time. For the past few seconds, the events of this normal day had flashed before my eyes. Somewhere, deep in the back of my mind, I knew, I would never get to go back home,………I wish I could have said goodbye…..I'm so sorry….

Author's note:

Okay, here's the next chapter. It's funny, on the last chapter, I made the story, but I forgot to post the chapter, heehee, yeah, I know, I'm stupid. Note, I've signed this story Crystal Arrow. That's because I'm eventually going to change my penname to that, probably sometime in the following week, I hope. Well, the stories going to become much more detail from here on out, and Inuyasha and co and actually going to appear! Yeah!

~Crystal Arrow


	3. Chapter 3: Road to Destruction.......the...

Lone Wolf

****

I stand alone…..

By Crystal Arrow

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Three: Road to Destruction… The betrayal.

The class landed in a lush green landscape, some students softly, others not quite so lucky. I landed rather roughly, but alright, unlike others who had rocks and stones stabbed into their legs and feet from the hard ground beneath the green grass. I heard our master shouting at us to remain calm. I rose above the rest and looked around. The Master shouted for me to stay down until the situation was taken in, but I didn't hear him. I was being over ridden by senses I never felt before, powerful auras all around me, that nobody else seemed to notice.

I heard shouts from new people. Looking in their direction, I saw Kagome Higurashi, the all mighty ill one, standing well and healthy minus a few scrapes and bruises. I realized she had a powerful aura, as well as all of the group she was with. A guy with dog ears had the most powerful aura, followed by some type of priest with a rosary wrapped about his hand. There was also some semi-powerful auras coming from some type of oddly clad woman with an oversized boomerang, a child with a tail, and a cat with two tails. However, the two most powerful auras I felt came one from a hiding place in a tree, and the second, the monstrous beast that the group Kagome is with was battling before my martial arts class was dropped between them and the beast.

The master continued to shout for order as my classmates began screaming in fear and confusion. The beast was huge, possibly twenty feet tall, and appeared to be some odd cross between a human, a snake and a bear. I felt his aura grow dangerously, this was followed by the painful screams of my friends. Miniature versions of the beast before us had sprung up out of nowhere, and begun to hack away at everything in sight. I looked and saw the Kagome and her gang fighting off the monsters. I yelled to her, "What is going on and where are we!?!?!"

She shot an arrow at an approaching monster and yelled back, "We're being attacked by Naraku's spawned demons, we're in the past." And with that she turned away and continued fighting.

I was in complete shock, demons weren't supposed to exist, we were supposed to be home in the future, not fighting to survive in the past! I looked around to see what demons were most dangerous at the moment, only to find that none attacked me. Surveying my surroundings, I noticed that any mini demons that approached me would immediately shy away in fear. They were afraid of me? Taking advantage of their fear for me, I charged into the largest fray of demons attacking with all of my strength. Within minutes, they had all run away back to their master and disappeared. Taking in the damage, I saw that most of the students were injured in some way or another, a few were unconscious, but none dead, good. I found Kai, and stood by her, helping her stand. She had a gaping wound in her torso, but she wasn't loosing much blood. 

Looking up at the demon, I saw him look straight at me. He seemed to be sniffing the air, he was confused, as if he was getting two different readings for one thing. He stared right into my eyes, as if to peer into my soul, then he just started laughing. It was frightening for everyone, especially when he abruptly stopped, and simply glared at everyone. Out of nowhere people just started falling to the ground, dead. I gasped in shock, scared and confused of the world before me. The demon's eyes roamed over the students, only six remained standing. His visions roamed until it locked on me, not specifically on me, I found out, but Kai.

Kai collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. She would respond to nothing as she kneeled on the ground, clutching her chest. I can't take this! "STOP IT!!! STOP IT NOW!!!"

The demon only glanced at me, an evil smile dancing in his eyes. Tears now streamed down my face. I roughly shook her, trying to get her to respond to me, but she just kept screaming. I could feel her life force leaving her as her sister, Mai, kneeled beside me crying over the pain she saw her little sister in. I continued to scream for this to stop, making the demon just laugh. "STOP IT, PLEASE!!! STOP IT, NOW!!! ……….I'LL DO ANYTHING, JUST LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!!!!!" I screamed. 

Kai stopped screaming, unconscious. I looked up to the sneering demon as I panted for breath. "Anything?" he asked, his voice an oblivion of obvious evil. 

I swallowed the lump in my throat, tried to kill my fear. "Anything, please, just leave my friends alone, I'll do anything."

Mai stared at me as she took Kai in her lap. The demon grinned darkly, then abruptly grabbed me in his large hands, then vanishing into the surrounding forests. I didn't fight back as he carried me faraway from the clearing in which we had fought. I already knew his intentions, but I couldn't fight back, I wasn't strong enough, and I didn't want him to hurt my friends. The demon stopped in a small dark clearing, completely shadowed by the overhanging foliage. From where I landed not so gracefully on my stomach, I turned on the ground to look up at the large demon just as he shrunk to the size of an exceptionally tall human, minus the deformities from his demon side. As he grinned darkly, he knelt beside me and roughly pulled me to him. As he slashed at my uniform, my mind left the clearing, back to the battle grounds.

The other aura, whose was it, it was similar to that of the dog demon with Kagome, yet much more powerful and refined. I know he was watching the battle, uncaring of the results. He wanted something out of it that he could get no matter who won or lost. I wonder what it was?

Within my mind, I found that I had returned to the battle ground. Kagome and the others worried as to what would happen to me. I saw Mai, still on the ground, shaking Kai into wakefulness. As Kai finally awoke, Mai quickly explained to her how I had traded myself for Kai. Kai stared at her, shocked. "She gave herself for me?"

"Yes, we have to go save her!" Mai answered.

Kai looked up at her. Mai watched as determination set into Kai's eyes. Kai stood up and straitened her uniform. She looked down at Mai and answered calmly, " No we don't."

Kagome ran over to Kai, "What do you mean, she gave herself for you, you have to save her!"

"It was her choice to surrender herself, who said I ever liked her anyways? She was always strange, all she ever brought was trouble!" Kai shouted in return.

Everyone was truly shocked, those who knew Kai knew that Aiko was her best friend. They were always together, they stood up for each other, did everything together. "But Kai…"

My eyes shot open in hurt and pain, how could Kai betray me? I thought she was my friend! _Why, Kai…Why?_ I cried out in pain of betrayal as the demon groped me in earnest and lust. _Kai!!_

Aiko's link to the clearing snapped in her distress. That was when Kai returned to her senses. She suddenly grew weak and collapsed on the ground. From the shadows, Naraku laughed evilly, "Ku ku ku ku, this should be fun." He released the last of his control over Kai and disappeared into the darkness. 

"Kai!!!" Mai shouted in worry. She knelt beside her sister as Kai grabbed her head. She was crying. "Kai?" Mai asked softly.

Between silent sobs, Kai cried, "What have I done? I didn't mean it, Aiko… what have I done?"

Author's note:

Sorry this chapter was shorter than usual and a bit sketchy, but things in this chapter were supposed to happen quickly. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, please review!

~Crystal Arrow


	4. Chapter 4: The Transformation

Lone Wolf

****

I stand alone…..

By Crystal Arrow

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Four: The Transformation 

The demon was practically ripping off my uniform, scratching and bruising me in the process. I no longer responded, but stared into space behind him, the world blurred by my tears. _How could she betray me? She was always there for me, she said she'd never turn on me. _The thick material of my uniform was beginning to rip open. The demon was heavy on top of me, oblivious to the rising of my power in my distress. That is until he was thrown through several trees when my power reached it's peak.

The demon roared in fury as my aura flared with power I never knew I had, that not even the most powerful of mikos could ever match. I emitted my own light that lit the surrounding area as a strong wind revolved around me._ What's going on? This is impossible, I'm just another girl, aren't I?_ As I began to float a few feet off the ground, my life flashed before my eyes, and I realized, as images of the bullets going straight through me, of stoned being thrown at me, but never bruising me and my unearthly strength and speed in competition, I'm not just another girl, I'm not human. The tears flowed faster down my face. I'm not a demon, I'm not a hanyou, I'm not anything! What am I!?

The demon roared again as he was thrown back from me. Images of different creatures flashed through my mind. What was I? There were images of tigers, lions, cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, foxes, and many different animals. For each one, I never matched, until they all just stopped on the image of a wolf pack. I thought about it, that was what I was like, a proud wolf, not wanted by anybody. But, I didn't fit into a pack, I never have. The image of the pack vanished leaving only the image of a single wolf, a mix between a proud wolf and a dog, much stronger than any normal dog or wolf, but not accepted by either, or man. That's what I am, the lone wolf, I can't have family, because I don't belong anywhere.

I began to feel new power surge through me and changes take place in my body. _What's happening to me?! _I thought as tears flowed freely down my face in panic and fear.

"NARAKU, COME BACK HERE!!" Inuyasha yelled as he saw Naraku disappear from sight. He looked at the strangers from Kagome's time. He didn't know how they got there, or why they were, but for some reason Naraku was targeting them. Most of them were injured and unconscious, and there was proof that Naraku had been controlling the girl called Kai for reasons yet to be discovered. Kagome knelt beside the girl and her sister, trying to comfort her.

"It's not your fault, you weren't in control of what you said, and your friend probably didn't hear you, just calm down." Kagome said desperately.

"No" Kai cried, "She heard me, she hates me now, AIKO I DIDN'T MEAN IT!!" 

"This is very peculiar, why would Naraku meddle with these girls' relations, they are not even from this time." Miroku pondered. 

"I don't know." Sango answered. "but we had better find that other girl before something bad happens." Suddenly a heavenly glow was emitted from the forest a couple miles away. The glow became stronger along with the sudden eerie wind coming from that area. 

"Too late." Inuyasha stated as odd scents invaded his senses. Something was changing, and there was no way anyone could ever get there in time to stop it at the rate at which it was occurring. 

Aiko was now hovering above the ground, practically glowing with the power growing within her. The tears still flowed, endless streams of the sadness emitted by her soul. Blast after blast of energy were shot from her, consequentially knocking out the demon who had attacked her. 

Aiko began to glow more brightly. She could feel her body changing becoming stronger, and more efficient. _I sold my body to save my friends. _Her already long black hair grew longer, her green eyes shone brightly, sparkling with the moisture of her tears. Tatters from her uniform were blown away by her own power leaving Aiko indecently clothed, revealing more than she would have even with a bikini. The uniform just barely managed to stay in place through the assault from the demon, now being torn by her own power.

As Aiko grew stronger, a loneliness consumed her being. A great sent of longing for companionship though she could no longer trust in others, the dark loneliness one feels when they have been betrayed. She clenched her eyes shut to try and block away the tears brought on by the still fresh scars from Kai's words. _I gave my soul for my virtue._

The light grew stronger and brighter , lengthening the shadows and brightening the skies. It was visible for miles, reaching from the ground far up into the heavens. Leaves and debris practically revolved around her. Eyes closed, the tears stopped and the light grew yet even brighter, blinding Inuyasha and co. several miles away. The ground shook and the winds grew increasingly more violent. With one final blast of energy, it all stopped. Upon the ground lay Aiko's glasses, now useless. One final tear fell from her face and landed soundlessly upon the shattered glass. _Now, I have destroyed my heart, so it may never be broken again._

The demon rose. He bellowed an unearthly roar which shook the trees themselves. He charged in his fury, attempting to kill Aiko, but he never quite reached her. She appeared, clothes tattered and torn, on the other side of the small clearing out of harm's way. The demon collapsed, dead, upon the ground. His blood pooled around him from a cut in his throat.

Aiko stood motionless as the demon's blood dripped from her fingers. Emotionless emerald eyes glanced up in the direction from which she had come before. Seconds later, she was gone, the only trace of her left, her shattered glasses, broken where they lay on the forest floor, her final tear dripping down the frames and into the depths of the earth.

The various people/ demons in the clearing watched in awe the blinding spiral of light rising in the distance. After a few minutes, there was one final flash of light, and it all stopped. Kai still cried into her sister's shirt, unable to absorb everything that was happening. Inuyasha braced himself for what was to come, not knowing who was coming, the demon or the girl. The aura was incredible, far more powerful than any mere humans' or miko's should be, hinting the aura to belong to a demon. Sango, Miroku, Kagome and the other students from the martial arts school followed his lead and braced themselves for what was to come.

Within a nearby tree, Sesshoumaru, the demon lord of the west watched the scene continue to unfold. He had been there since the beginning of his half brother's fight with the demon. He had seen the odd humans appear from out of nowhere and had immediately singled out the teenage girl with the green eyes. She had handled the situation, and the strange discreet aura she had easily frightened the mini demons that threatened her friends. Sesshoumaru looked to where the light had once been and followed the new aura. It was approaching fast, it would arrive in a matter of seconds… in fact, it arrived now.

At the entrance to the clearing, nearest to the light in the distance, there appeared a demon. A soft breeze continued past it, ruffling its hair. As Kai turned to see the new arrival, she collapsed back unto the ground, for before her stood her betrayed and broken friend, Aiko. 

Her hair had grown from her back to her knees, yet still kept the unique waves and curls that proved her to be foreign. Her red uniform clung to her slim shape, huge portions of it missing, leaving much of Aiko's stomach, chest and legs visible. On her face, she had gained the mark of a star within a crescent on her forehead, and two light blue stripes on either side of her face. Her once brilliant green eyes were now glazed a pale emerald. Her glasses were gone, leaving a completely different person from who Kai had always known. Aiko was no longer the little book smart, shy and soft spoken, she was an emotionless wolf demon. She had gained a ragged black tail that curled around her feet where she stood, pointed ears and clawed fingers. Aiko was changed, once again the estranged orphan, apart from every one else, except now she was scarred by the pain of betrayal, and she no longer smiled.

__

I sold my body to save my friends,

I gave my soul for my virtue,

And I destroyed my heart, 

So I would never be hurt again. 

I am the Lone Wolf,

I do not belong, Therefore…

****

I stand alone.

Author's note: 

__

Took a while for this chapter, I had writer's block, and the lack of reviews didn't help. I will add only one more chapter to each of my stories, if I don't get reviews. I'll take it thatyou don't like my stories, so I won't continue writing, for what would be the point? Please, if you want me to continue this, please review!

~Crystal Arrow


	5. Chapter 5: The Challenge

Lone Wolf

****

I stand alone…..

By Crystal Arrow

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Five: the Challenge

"Aiko…." Kai whispered.

"Nice to see you, Kai." Aiko said, her voice dripping sarcasm. 

Tears began to well up in Kai's eyes. "Aiko, please, I didn't mean it. Stay with me."

"Kai…" Aiko whispered, her eyes overshadowed by her wild bangs. "It's too late, I can't stay with humans, for I'm not human, I don't belong with you."

Everyone fell silent. All eyes were on Kai and Aiko. "Aiko, it's not too late, you can change back! Come home with us!!!"

From beneath the shadow of her bangs, the glisten of her tears was visible as they streamed down her striped face. "You don't understand… I never was human, I don't belong with humans." Aiko slowly lifted her gaze to meet Kai's eyes. Tears flowed freely from both of their eyes. Aiko smiled, "And you don't belong here. Farewell." With that a light shone in the distance, quickly approaching the clearing. However, before it could reach them, the ground disappeared from beneath their feet. All students from the future (minus Kagome) fell through the ground, screaming in shock and fear. As Kai fell, she reached out to Aiko, calling out her name in a vain attempt to bring her home with the rest of them, but to no avail. Kai disappeared into the ground, the light from the distance right after her. 

Kai landed roughly in the middle of the martial arts academy, surrounded by her fellow students and instructors. She landed on her feet, standing stiff, unresponsive to the world around her as tears continued to fall from her face. Above her, a sparkling light rained drops of light down around her, joining her sadness to create a heavenly scene of a broken angel, the guilt in the betrayal of an innocent weighing heavily upon her shoulders. The light lowered itself into her hands, and as she gazed at it, she couldn't help but break down completely, into tears and unconsciousness, for in her hand were Aiko's shattered glasses, covered in dirt, blood and Aiko's own tears. Kai fell to the ground and into the blackness of dreams and nightmares, for in her hands was her very last link to the friend that she herself destroyed with words and words alone. The friend she had grown up with, and whom she would never see again.

Back in the clearing, Inuyasha and co. watched warily as the new arrival stood silently, all traces of tears thoroughly erased by an eerie wind that had picked up after the disappearance of the odd group of humans from the future. Untamed curls whipped wildly around her as the wind picked up slowly yet gently. From the shadows, the demon lord, Sesshoumaru watched in curiosity as the girl stood stock still, surrounded by her own glowing white aura. The wind that blew around her rustled her torn clothing, revealing strongly built limbs and smooth curves. Pale skin was bright in contrast to midnight black hair that grew wildly and beautifully from her head. From his hiding place, he could easily observe hr strengths and weaknesses, including glistening claws and strong muscles. But of all he could see, he couldn't see the demon girl's face as she stood like an angel in the field. But why was he thinking of this stranger as attractive? The great Sesshoumaru didn't give in to weak desires of the body, did he?

Inuyasha stood defensively in front of the group, growling deep in his throat to warn off the wench that may cause trouble. He couldn't see her face, and that was dangerous, for that meant that he couldn't see her next move. He was wary of this girl, was she a new creation of Naraku or a another witch out to get the shikon no tama? Inuyasha had no time to determine this, for new trouble was on the way. Kouga came speeding into the scene from the forests, a cloud of dust following him in his wake. 

Kouga stopped before Kagome past Inuyasha, thus leaving Inuyasha coughing out the excess dust from Kouga's trail. Kouga took Kagome's hand and said quickly, "I sensed there was trouble so I came as quickly as possible to make sure that dog-turd didn't get you hurt. Are you okay?"

Kagome was lost for word's, but Inuyasha surely wasn't, "SHE'S FINE!!! NOTHING WE COULDN'T TAKE CARE OF, YOU WIMPY WOLF!!!"

Kouga was about to yell back that he had the right to protect his woman, but he suddenly noticed an odd scent in the surrounding area. The scent resembled that of a wolf yokai, yet intertwined in the scent were those of dog and human, but how was that possible? A wolf would never go so low as to take a dog as mate. Kouga turned to face the source of the scent to find a yokai girl standing there. The girl was Aiko, still standing in the exact same position, in the exact same place. She appeared to be a wolf, yet she had the tail one would expect of a dog. Not to mention, she bore the celestial sign, something which wolves did not carry. Kouga was interrupted from his silent train of thought by Inuyasha, " What's wrong, wolf? Scared of the little wench?"

Kouga growled defensively, but didn't answer to Inuyasha, but instead to Aiko. "Hey, bitch, what are you doing on my territory? Only members of my pack may live in these lands!"

From the shadows, Sesshoumaru asked himself, "_His lands? What is this weakling thinking?"_ Sesshoumaru could only scowl at Kouga's mistake of words from his position.

A malevolent grin became evident upon Aiko's face as she giggled quietly at Kouga's antics. Kouga became very uncomfortable as Aiko's giggles broke into an unsuppressed fit of laughter. "Funny, Boy!" she managed to choke out between laughter. "You really do know how to amuse me!"

"GGRRRR, WHO ARE YOU!!" Kouga roared.

"My, my, my, aren't testy? I'm Aiko. What I am is of no concern to you." Aiko responded teasingly.

"Do not mock me!! You are a wolf, I can smell it! If you are on my lands, then you are part of my pack, submit to me!"

Aiko's grin disappeared. "Well, what do we have here? An arrogant little puppy whining for attention?…HA!!! Don't make me laugh."

Kouga was truly beginning to run short of temper. "Answer my questions!!"

Aiko chose to ignore him, "You know, this is really a very funny situation. Here I am, surrounded by three humans, two dogs, one wolf, and to top it off, one adorable little fox cub. I really can't help but wonder how I get myself into these situations." 

Kouga was about to shout out once more, but was cut off as Inuyasha jumped in front of him, Tetsusaiga drawn and ready to attack. "What do you mean two dogs?!?"

Aiko stared at Inuyasha skeptically. "What are you, dead in the senses? There has been another dog demon in the vicinity since I arrived here."

"Where is he!!" Inuyasha shouted out. "Sesshoumaru, come out here?!"

"Sesshoumaru?" Aiko questioned. "A rather violent name if you ask me, doesn't seem to fit the guy, since unlike you, he has made no hostile move towards me since I came." Aiko dismissed Inuyasha with a carefree wave of her hand. "So, because of that, I have no reason as to betray his whereabouts." 

_" This girl has some sense, that's a good thing, or else I might have had to kill her." Sesshoumaru thought._

The competition between Inuyasha and Kouga was finished as Kouga pounced before Aiko, swiping at her with his claws in a futile attempt to actually harm her. Aiko simply moved gracefully and effortlessly out of his way. Kouga roared out, "I don't care what you are, but I know you are part wolf! And no wolf will exist in my territory outside of my pack! Either submit to me or DIE!!!!"

Aiko giggled as she carelessly brushed her hair from her face. "You truly are a silly puppy! So let's play a game! I'll give you five minutes, should you be able to strike me, or even touch me within that time, you may do as you want with me, should that be to kill me or to merge me into your pack, but should you fail, I fight!"

Author's note:

I know it's taken forever for me to update this, but bear with me, I'm a busy girl. The following chapter may take a while to come, but it will, providing I get reviews. (Hint Hint…)

~Crystal Arrow


	6. Chapter 6: The Battle

Lone Wolf

**I stand alone…..**

**By Crystal Arrow**

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Six:  The battle

                    The competition between Inuyasha and Kouga was finished as Kouga pounced before Aiko, swiping at her with his claws in a futile attempt to actually harm her. Aiko simply moved gracefully and effortlessly out of his way. Kouga roared out, "I don't care what you are, but I know you are part wolf! And no wolf will exist in my territory outside of my pack! Either submit to me or DIE!!!!"

            Aiko giggled as she carelessly brushed her hair from her face. "You truly are a silly puppy! So let's play a game! I'll give you five minutes, should you be able to strike me, or even touch me within that time, you may do as you want with me, should that be to kill me or to merge me into your pack, but should you fail, I fight!"

            "You stupid girl!!" Kouga yelled, "This is no GAME!!!" With that word he launched a ferocious attack that Inuyasha never could have dodged in order to save his own life of Kagome's. However, just as Kouga's claws were about to make contact with Aiko's seemingly delicate pale skin, she was gone.  With his target gone, Kouga lost his balance and fell face first into the poor ground, creating a face shaped indent in the ground. 

            Whipping his head up, he looked around him, Aiko was nowhere in sight. A low growl escaped his throat as he desperately tried to keep his cool. He could tell that the girl was far too fast for him even with the Shikon shards in his legs. In order to beat her, he would have to outsmart her. He stopped searching and just stood there, waiting for her to make her move.  "Thirty….thirty-one….thirty-two… you're wasting you time wolf, the rules are you find me, not I attack you. Seriously, you can't be that dimwitted. Half a minute has passed, you'd think with your superior speed you would at least be able to keep up!"

            Well that idea failed miserable in a total of ten seconds. A new record.  Time was wasting away, this girl was obviously faster than him, who knows how much stronger she is, she must be defeated before five minutes, or else he would to be the one defeated. Randomly choosing a direction, he launched himself into the air leaving a cloud of dust behind him. Faster than anybody could see, he pounced from tree to tree searching the insolent girl, Aiko. He began to hear whispering, but from where. It was Aiko, mocking him. "That's two minutes, Kouga, you're not getting any where, now are you?" the whispering continued like a fairy's breath on the wind. Counting his time in finding her second by second, "twelve…thirteen…fourteen…fifteen…sixteen…"

            Try as he might, Kouga couldn't find her. He stopped on a tree branch to try and find her by sight once more. Nothing.

            Sesshoumaru still waited patiently and quietly in the bushes, upwind of the clearing in which his worthless hanyou brother, Inuyasha searched in wonder for the girl. _How stupid are these idiots?_ he asked of himself. _It was obvious the girl was superior to the worthless and arrogant wolf.  He is making a fool of himself._

            Just then, Kouga stopped on a branch several feet above Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru watched on in his stoic way as Kouga tried to discern the whereabouts of the girl. _I have to give the wolf some credit, he's standing upwind of the clearing, therefore he can smell anything in the clearing. _ Sesshoumaru's momentary praise of the wolf was demolished as the girl landed soundlessly behind the wolf. Obviously, the girl was wittier, smarter, and faster than the wolf. The girl stood behind Kouga, upwind of him so he couldn't smell her, and her presence hidden in the shadow behind him. 

            Sesshoumaru gazed silently at the girl who so arrogantly challenged the wolf's senses. For a girl of her age who was once human, she held the beauty and superiority of a high class and powerful demon. Long black hair cascaded behind her in ocean like waves, while her long bangs covered a pale-fleshed face. Pale green eyes glinted mischievously as she stood stock still behind the unsuspecting wolf.  Sesshoumaru could barely make out the light blue streaks on either side of her delicate face, and her clan mark, a star cradled within a crescent moon, was almost completely hidden by midnight black bangs. But that was not all that made her beautiful, her body was also quite nice. Sesshoumaru was no hentai, but he knew a hot body when he saw it, and there was certainly a lot of it showing on this girl due to the fact that the majority of her stiff uniform had been destroyed. Mass amounts of pale smooth skin was visible through the scanty remains of her clothing, and with the wind factor, the clothes were very well pointless. 

            The girl seemed to notice his gaze as she glanced down at him. The playful smile disappeared from her face, leaving a stoic mask in its place, which glared down at the demon lord whom she has just right to call a pervert. Her gaze was cold, challenging his own cold stare in its coldness. With a small frown, the girl mouthed something to him, before turning her attentions back to the wolf. That which she had signed was,  "I respect you, you respect me, honor that and keep your eyes to yourself!"

            Sesshoumaru was slightly taken aback by the girl's sharpness, especially given that since her clothes were so torn up, what else was he to look to. Apparently this arrogant girl thought that this great demon lord would respectfully revert his gaze from her indisposed self, she was apparently wrong, However, before Sesshoumaru could reply to the girl, she turned away from him, regained her cool and calmly  leaned closer to Kouga.

            "You're loosing time, wolf,  only two minutes left." Aiko whispered into the unsuspecting wolf's ear. He jumped away to a nearby branch growling viciously. Aiko, finding herself in control of the battle at hand, calmed slightly from her prior discomfort from the yokai lord's penetrating gaze. Aiko knew her clothes were pretty well torn up, but the yokai made her feel as though she wore absolutely nothing at all, which for her, was an extremely unsettling thought. _How dare that cocky son of a bitch  just stare at me like that!! Why, I should have dropped the fight just to beat a lesson into that pompous head of his! I knew I should have left these weaklings and gotten some decent clothing, how could I have been so stupid?! I mean, I rarely ever even dressed in a normal bathing suit because I hated the way guys always stared at me, I should have known better than to go jumping  about in this!!! _

To Kouga, Aiko appeared as cool and collected as when the fight began, but with her now in his smell range, he could smell her discomfort. "What's wrong puppy girl? Getting worried? Don't worry, I wouldn't kill you." He sneered.

            "Don't be so full of yourself, stupid mutt." Aiko snarled, "I wouldn't be scared of you even if you had come close to catching me in the first minute. Now you have but a minute or so more as time ticks buy. I suggest you don't waste you time trying to frighten me!"

            Just as Aiko finished her sentence, Kouga charged at her, his technique changed from his former violent one to a quick and cold one. Before  Aiko could catch a breath, Kouga was before her, preparing to strike her down at last.  Shocked at first, Aiko jumped back just in time to avoid his full forced blow to her face. Though the punch didn't land on her, the aftershock sent her reeling back to the clearing where she landed gracefully…on her tailed rear end. A thin cloud of dust and torn grass blades rose in a poof around her. Kouga penetrated the translucent cloud effortlessly and aimed a kick at Aiko's head. The young demon ducked beneath the wolf's leg and rolled between the spectators, Inuyasha and company, where she was greeted by yet another well aimed kick to her delicate face, which she dodged once again. 

            One would to think Aiko was now actually trying to escape Kouga's wrath. In fact, Aiko wasn't thinking about Kouga or the fight at all, but of Sesshoumaru. _Why that big headed ass! He's still there. Who does he think he is, lord of all the western lands?!(hint hint: irony!) I can't believe he would just stare at me like that, that disrespectful little shit! _Yes, she was still mad over that. In fact, she was so upset over Sesshoumaru, that she continued to mindlessly dodge Kouga for another two minutes when Kagome, who had been timing the battle on her stop watch yelled out to her, "Um, that's eight minutes, you do know that right?"

            Aiko snapped out of her violent little dream world and stared at Kagome as Kouga's latest punch flew straight past her head. "Well what do you know," Aiko giggled. "I gave you three extra minutes, times up!" Kouga had not even recovered from his last blow when Aiko's knee lodged itself rather firmly in his solar plexus. The proud wolf doubled over in pain, lowering his head, which would normally have been just an inch out of her kicking range to just the right level for Aiko to kick him clear into the next island of Japan. The kick connected with Kouga's already pain distorted face and sent him flying through the air straight into the nearest tree, which was about five feet away. The poor tree doubled over and cracked upon impact, allowing Kouga hard passage to do the same to the following three trees before he lost his former velocity and hit the fifth tree and slid slowly to the ground, cute little stars dancing before his dazed eyes. "Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry!" Aiko cried as she ran forward to inspect the damage she inflicted upon the trees.  Inuyasha and co. fell over as Aiko talked to the damaged trees apologetically, completely ignoring the fallen wolf.  

            As Aiko blushed cutely at the destruction she caused from only two kicks, Sesshoumaru, nodded approvingly and stored the girl's scent into his memory for later reference. He rose from his place in the shadows behind the bushes and silently left the clearing, unnoticed by even the young demoness who had absolutely no idea what Sesshoumaru looked like in the light, his strengths or weaknesses, or even his scent by which to identify him.  

            "Heh heh…woops." Aiko stuttered.

            " 'WOOPS??'" Inuyasha yelled, "You say 'woops' to that?"

            "I'd say 'nice.'" Sango commented.

            "Yes, and I say 'will you bear my child?'" Miroku asked as he took Aiko's hand in his. To this, Aiko blanched out as Sango dealt Miroku a knock out blow to the back of the head with her boomerang bone. 

            "….., Um, well, yeah…" Kagome stumbled for words. Finally she just stopped and asked, "Would you like to travel with us?"

            "WHAT?" Inuyasha roared. "There's no way in hell I'm letting some odd freak like her join our group. Who gave you that authority anyway?" 

            With that, Inuyasha and Kagome launched into a heated argument, into which Sango did not join or try to stop. Aiko smiled and shook her head sadly as she turned to leave unnoticed  by the quarrelling band of shard hunters. However one cute little kitsune bounced in her path, and asked innocently why Aiko would not join them.

            Aiko smiled, " That my young fox is because Kagome would try to take me home with her, back to the future. I can't take the pain of going back there and having made clear to me again that I don't belong. I must go, perhaps we'll meet again." With that said, Aiko knelt down before Shippo and kissed him on the forehead, and gently ruffled his hair. Aiko rose, and this time succeeded in disappearing from the clearing for good.

            As she walked alone down the warm forest paths, she cried silent tears. In this world she had nothing, not even decent clothes. Aiko had no home and no friends, save for the strange band of demons and humans she left behind, for the pain she felt may come should she stay among them. "I said it myself," Aiko whispered to herself, "I stand alone, I think I just jinxed myself."

**Author's note:**

            Yeah, I know, it's taken forever fro me to get this chapter up. I alternate between stories, and I haven't had the time to write, don't expect new chapters soon, but I'll try to update as much as possible (which isn't much….- _ -,) Please review, it motivates me to write faster, which is good unless you hate my writing so much you'd prefer I just quit. :'( 

~Crystal Arrow


	7. Chapter 7: A new Future

Lone Wolf

**I stand alone…**

**By Crystal Arrow**

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through your thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Seven:  A New Future

          For days Aiko traveled alone, masking her scent, hiding her trail, and training herself. Training herself to be stronger, and how to master her own abilities. After much practice, she found that she had a very valuable ability, not rare, but hard to perfect. At will, Aiko could transform from demon, to wolf, to human even. By hiding her yokai blood, she could actually return to her human self the same in every aspect but the pain she felt in knowing she wasn't human, it was just a mask. And like this she traveled, never encountering more then mere animals or low-life demons that had no mind of their own. She avoided contact with people, for fear of being shunned, for though she knew little of what daily life was like in the feudal era of Japan, she knew that as a demon, she would never fit into a human population, in the past or the future.

            Things carried on this way for a few months, traveling, training, fighting, and staying invisible. And over this course of time, she slowly began to collect something very powerful, though she did not know it consciously. These powerful objects were none other than fragments of the shikon jewel. Now, many know that demons are attracted to its power, however, Aiko doesn't. She thought nothing of the fact that as she collected more of the small jewel fragments more demons that possessed them tended to attack her. She just thought it a coincidence and continued on her way to nowhere. 

            That is until one day, her life once again found purpose. It began like any other day, she woke up, she ate some fruit she might find around her, train for a bit, then just start walking. However, on this autumn day something different happened. On this day, she chose to walk as a human for once, just this once, so that maybe, just maybe, she might be able to talk to some people if she met them. Little did she know, that her decision to walk as a human that day would save an entire village from destruction by a shard possessing ogre. 

            Aiko had been walking for several hours already that day, and was beginning to tire when she heard screaming in the distance. Because she had chosen not to walk as a demon that day, she had come dangerously close to a village which was now under attack that she would before have passed by long before she ever knew a village was there and even if she did know, have avoided it. But now, she was closer than a mile to the village and despite her weaker human hearing, and she could easily hear the screams of terror coming from the village. She subconsciously turned towards the village and began walking towards the village instead of past it. _Damn myself and my weak heart!! _ Aiko thought as she began to pick up her pace. Soon enough she was at a full run approaching the village. The leg flaps of the kimono she had acquired a while back from an abandoned caravan came open as she ran at nearly demon speed to the village ahead.  As she reached the village, she halted. The site before was unlike anything she had ever seen before. A once peaceful rice-harvesting village lay in shambles dead bodies lay strewn across the fields, makeshift weapons strewn around them, and a huge ogre that towered above even the trees in the center of the field roaring hideously a barely understandable message. "Give me the shikon jewel!!! I know it is somewhere near, bring it to me!!!"

            Aiko stood in shock on the edge of the clearing. _Jewel, I have a jewel, is he destroying this village because of me?_ Aiko brought the small collective fragment she had gathered over her time in the feudal era and looked down upon it as it shimmered and glimmered in the mid-day sun, oblivious to the evil around it. She recalled how when she had first gotten them, they had been black, but upon her touch, they had turned white and pure, then joined with the other shards she had collected. They had been evil, but turned pure with her touch…. That was her only comfort that she was not just another evil demon. However, now, because of the jewel, the village was in ruins. _I will not stand for this! I don't care how strong that bad ass demon is, or what the villagers will think of me, but I will not simply stand aside while he destroys them all!_

As she came to this conclusion, she saw what appeared to be an old miko approach the ogre. She raised her hands as if in a peace offering and shouted out in a strong yet feeble voice. "What is it that ye want, ogre?"

            The ogre stood tall and glared down at the tiny woman. Her hair had long gone gray, and she stood barely over four feet tall, thin and petite. In comparison to the ogre, she was a perfect fit under his pinky. With a growl, the ogre responded to the old miko's question, "I have already said what I want, I want the shikon jewel!"

            "I am afraid you must be mistaken ogre, for there are no jewels in this here village, especially not one with so grand a name as the Shikon no tama." 

            "IT IS HERE!" he roared in response as he raised his hand to strike her, the miko was hidden under the shadow of the ogre's hand yet still standing tall when a voice interrupted ever so rudely.

            "Hey, ugly!!" the voice shouted. The ogre's head shot up as he quickly scanned the surrounding area for the owner of the voice. He was rewarded with a view of a human girl standing on the edge of the clearing, hands on her hips, she dressed in a plain blue kimono with a green obi. Long waving black hair surrounded her, piercing green eyes staring him down.

            "What did you say?" the ogre asked in disbelief.

            " I said, 'HEY UGLY!!'" The girl yelled in answer. 

            "GGRRR, you would be smart to watch you're tongue wench!"

            "No, I think you would be smart to take your hand away from the old woman and get the fuck out of this village." The girl said this in absolute calm, almost mocking the monster before her.

            "I WILL LEAVE WHEN I HAVE WHAT I CAME FOR, NOW BE SILE……"

            "Is this what you want?" The girl, Aiko asked, holding the jewel fragment up for him to see. The ogre fell silent mid-sentence, his eyes drawn to the sparkling galore of the jewel held up between Aiko's slender fingers. His eyes seemed to sparkle, the hope and desire he had for the jewel reflecting outwards through his eyes. 

            "Give it to me!" He yelled snapping out of his stupor, outstretching his hand for it. 

            "Ha! Not in your lifetime!!" Aiko mocked, tossing the jewel into the air, and expertly catching it and stashing it within her obi.

            The ogre stepped forth a few steps, growling once more. "I said give it to me you fucking bitch!"

            "My, my, aren't we greedy, and quite rude!" Aiko continued mocking him, shaking her finger at him. "I may be a bitch, but I most certainly do not 'fuck' anything as you put it so sincerely in you last statement."

            "Stupid human!" The ogre stepped closer, the old miko now standing clearly several yards behind him, and the survivors of the village safe in the distance and off the ogre's mind. 

            Aiko laughed, holding her head and stomach in glee. "You have to be the stupidest beast I've come across thus far!" _Great, this is going just according to my plans!_ "Me, human!!?" Aiko laughed harder. 

            "Do not mock me, human!"  The ogre closed the distance in a charge in which he picked Aiko up and then slammed her into a tree. As he removed his hand, Aiko fell to the ground, winded. " Now give me the jewel!"

            Aiko stood slowly, gasping for air. She could feel a few crushed ribs, and she could taste the bit of blood in her throat, some of the broken ribs had pierced her lungs.  _Guess I took the mocking a bit too far. Hehe._ Aiko stood up straight and glared up at the beast towering over her. " Well, now you've done it, now you've gone and pissed me off!" 

            "And what are you going to do, weakling!?" The ogre growled. 

            "Why, kill you of course!"  Aiko stated as though she was the one towering over the ogre.

The said ogre was shocked into laughter. "You? A measly human, kill me? Bwahhahahh!"

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." Aiko interrupted. 

" And why not? A human like you could never possibly even hope to kill me!"

"You're stupider than I first thought. Who ever said I was human?" With that, Aiko transformed into her humanoid demon form, the light blue stripes returning to her cheeks, and her tail practically sprouting out from behind her. Her already long hair grew and fangs came in instead of her canines. Last of all, the sign of the star and moon returned to her forehead. "Still laughing?"

The ogre fell silent. A snarl came unto his lips. "That doesn't mean you can defeat me, bitch."

All laughter and mocking had left Aiko as she glared up at the Ogre. "Yes it does."  The ogre growled then lunged at Aiko. Everything was over in a flash. Aiko landed behind the ogre, her claws extended before her. They stood for a second that way, then the ogre collapsed forwards, blood flooding from a gash across his throat.  With a flick of her wrist, the blood was gone from her long slender hands. She stared down at the ogre's carcass without emotion before turning to make her way back into the forest from whence she came.

"Wait, child!" 

Aiko turned around to stare down upon the tiny miko of the village that lie in shambles.  " My lady yokai, we thank ye for you help." Aiko continued to stare down at the woman. "Would you allow us to repay your kindness, milady?"

"I need not your kindness, but to be on my way." 

"Then you lie, for it plain as day in your eyes you desire it." 

             "I don't know what you mea……." Aiko was cut sort as the tiny miko somehow managed the knock her unconscious, she fell to the ground with a soft thud, her world closing in around her.

Author's note: Look at that, I actually updated, and I put cliffhanger! Nice! Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I can't promise I'll update more; I have a lot of time constraints. But I can say I'll try! And thanks to everyone who reviews, it really makes me want to keep writing! Thanks!

Crystal Arrow


	8. Chapter 8: A Place to Call Home

Lone Wolf

**I stand alone…**

**By Crystal Arrow**

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through your thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Eight: A Place to Call Home

_"I need not your kindness, but to be on my way." _

_"Then you lie, for it plain as day in your eyes you desire it." _

             "I don't know what you mea…" Aiko was cut short as the tiny miko somehow managed the knock her unconscious, she fell to the ground with a soft thud, her world closing in around her.

            The world around her was blurry and unfocused. Her eyes were slowly opening to reveal the surroundings about her, but the unbearable pain in her head prevented her from focusing on anything. "Ugh…." Aiko groaned. "Fuck, my head hurts like hell!" 

            "What foul language for a young lady, even a yokai one, to use." A kindly old voice sounded from within the room she was in. 

            Aiko slowly forced her eyes to open revealing herself to be in a small shack, freshly built. The thatch used to construct it still smelled fresh and not quite dead yet. A small fire burned in the center of the hut providing what little light there was within.  She herself was laid upon a straw bed and covered by the tattered remains of a blanket. She tried to rise, and had almost lifted her torso from the ground when the same voice commanded, "Down, child." She found herself lying back down against her own body's will. She felt some force holding her down against the straw. Once the force seemed to dissipate, she tried to rise again, only to lie back down when the voice called out, "Stay down."

            _What in the hell is going on?_ Aiko thought. Once again, she felt the force fade, but this time it took longer. Once gone, she slowly lifted her right arm to her face. Aiko let the back of her wrist rest against her brow, which felt warm to her own touch and relaxed her. The warmth that felt from herself reminded her what it felt like to touch something living, reminded her of her own mother's warm touch and loving smile when she felt as helpless as she did now, and of the hugs she once shared with her father after a game, and playful wrestling with her friend Kai, though she didn't know if she could still call her a friend after the pain she endured. The warmth was gone, replaced by cold night air, no one to warm her, only her own arms encircled her in her cold and lonely nights in a desperate attempt to find comfort in herself, and her playful games with her lost friend had long since been replaced by battles to stay independent and unclaimed by sadistic male demons, and sometimes, just to stay alive. Aiko had had not comfort in months; any villages she had visited had chased her away, no matter what form she was in, for they sensed the strangeness in her, and only wanted her gone… or dead. She could feel an all to familiar feeling wash over her, loneliness, and the want for love and understanding. She could also feel the all too familiar burning in her eyes as tears threatened to fall. She lowered her arm so that it covered her eyes. "Why am I here?" Aiko whispered with all the control she had to keep her voice steady.

            The same elderly voice answered. "You are here so that we may take care of ye."

            _Lies, it has to be all lies!_ "Don't lie to me…" Aiko growled. All of the distrust and hurt the demon felt was expressed through that sound. 

            "Child, we wish to repay you for saving our village. We…"

            "I SAID DON'T LIE TO ME!" _Damn it. Why… am I letting go like this?……I can't let this get to me, but the hurt is too much, I want to go! _"Humans…" _What's this?_ "don't have that kind of compassion!" Aiko spit venomously. _Am I crying?……why?_

"Child I can see you are hurt inside." The elderly voice still responded calmly and without fear. 

            "YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

            "My child…"

            Aiko gasped, the kind of desperate gasp of someone on the verge of breaking down, trying desperately to hold on to their pride, trying desperately not to cry. Her voice was quiet now. "If you knew anything…why would you do this to me?" she asked this as her other arm rose to take hold of a necklace foreign to her that lie around her neck. Aiko knew what it was, her mother, being a miko, had some of them around the house, and had shown her how to make them. She had also seen one around the neck of the inu hanyou she had seen upon just arriving in the feudal era. It was a subduing necklace. 

            The voice was silent for a moment, then started again softly. "We had to be sure you did not attack us upon awakening."

            "Attack you?" 

"Child…"

            "Please…" Aiko begged, her voice was weak now; she didn't have the strength to be in the hopeless situation she had gotten herself into. She had found all people to be the same. They hated demons, just as demons hated humans, and killed them any chance they got. Every time before when she had let her soft heart get the better of her, the villagers showed no gratitude, even when they said they did. They betrayed her, shunned her, turned her away and tried to kill her. _I'm such a fool. _"Please… let me go…"

            "Child, hear me out." The owner of the elderly voice finally rose from here place across the fire that hid her. It was the old miko that had knocked Aiko unconscious earlier. She knelt down beside Aiko, her face weary. The demon girl did not respond at all, she simply remained still, breathing shallow and eyes cover by her arm. The old miko reached forth a small hand and touched Aiko's arm.  She flinched visibly as the contact. The miko drew back quickly. _This child…holds a great deal of pain within. But, will she let me heal her? _"Would you please stay at the village, if not just for a few days so that I may treat your wounds?"

            The demon looked at the old woman from underneath the shadow of her own arm. Oh how she wanted to trust the woman, but past experiences did not tell her that was wise. "Who says I'm wounded?" Aiko knew that was a lie, it was probably obvious, especially to a skilled miko, that Aiko's breathing wasn't quite normal, and even with demon healing speed, internal wounds took longer to heal. 

            Flash back… 

"Do not mock me, human!"  The ogre closed the distance in a charge in which he picked Aiko up and then slammed her into a tree. As he removed his hand, Aiko fell to the ground, winded. " Now give me the jewel!"

            Aiko stood slowly, gasping for air. She could feel a few crushed ribs, and she could taste the bit of blood in her throat, some of the broken ribs had pierced her lungs.  _Guess I took the mocking a bit too far.___

_End Flash back…_

Now that she thought about, Aiko could still taste a bit of her own blood in the back of her throat, something was prevented the wounds from healing completely.

            "Child, do not take me for a fool, I know very well you were wounded when the ogre struck you against the tree." _Yeah, she knows. _"Let me treat you're wounds."

            "And what's to say you won't kill me instead?" Aiko spat.

            The old miko was greatly taken aback by that. _Could someone have really told this girl they would help, then tried killing her instead? Despicable!_ "Child, I do not believe in killing every demon that comes my way, not all demons are evil. The people of this village have come to know this lesson well, and we appreciate the help of any demon that may take the time to aid us."

            "sure…."

            "What is your name child?"

            "And you care why?"

            "I have already said, I care to make sure you are well, and I can see you do not approve of being called child."

            "…it's Aiko…."

            "Well then, Aiko, how about a deal." The miko declared.

            "What?"

            "Stay for one day, Aiko, and if you still wish to leave, then I will let you go, but if you find us to be as I have said, I would be glad to have you stay with us."

            Aiko was silent for a moment. "Do you mean, stay here permanently?"

            "Yes, Child." _I knew she wanted it._

"Well, then, be prepared to see me gone tomorrow." Aiko stated with false confidence.  _Tomorrow, I leave; I can't let myself be hurt again. _

            "Of course, Aiko." The miko finished with a knowing smile. _Tomorrow, I'll give this girl a home; I won't let her be hurt again. _

Author's note: 

I wrote, now you review, write, review, write, review, get the picture?

Crystal Arrow


	9. Chapter 9: Begin Again, Friends?

Lone Wolf

**I stand alone…**

**By Crystal Arrow**

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through your thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Nine: Begin again, Friends?

            Aiko sat in annoyance within the smoky hut. It smelled strongly of herbs, not unpleasant, just a bit too strong for her sensitive nose. And the little girls that ran about the inside of the small hut really grated on her nerves, screeching and giggling as they reenacted Aiko's fight with the ogre, again, and again, and again. 

            The smallest of the three girls within the hut, named Mariko, was cute, very young, and probably completely unaware what the two elder girls were doing. The elder two, being no more then five or six, named Yukina and Tomoi, did most of the acting, Tomoi with her two little pigtails playing the part of the ogre, trying desperately to sound gruff and scary, and Yukina with her loose black locks playing the part if Aiko defeating the ogre. Mariko cheered from Aiko's bedside. It had been amusing the first time the three little girls acted out for Aiko, but now, it being nearly midnight, she grew tired of their games. The demon girl pondered how if she was a more treacherous demon, uncaring for human health, she would likely kill the girls now and get them out of her face. She imagined it several times, almost smiled at some of her plans, fully knowing she would never carry them out, especially when the little Mariko, no more than a toddler, turned to face her, all smiles, clapping and giggling happily. 

            Once again, Mariko smiled at Aiko, and the two other village girls began the reenactment for the twentieth time, she sighed hopelessly. _Stupid old lady, leaving me with a bunch of kids way into the night, aren't I injured, don't I need my rest? _Just then, the said old lady entered the hut carrying a basket full of herbs, some already half crumpled or shorn from use in aiding the villagers.

            The miko slowly set down her basket and the bandages she carried with her, then putting everything in its proper place, unpacking so unbearably slow that Aiko thought, _I might as well just die here, she'd never reach me in time, even if I never died for another three hundred years!_ But the miko finished after an agonizingly long time, taking a seat across the fire from Aiko just as the girls finished another round of Aiko's battle with the Ogre. Mariko began to smile and clap, Yukina and Tomoi taking their bows in fake modesty.

            They would have started again, had the miko now stopped them. "Thank you, my children." She said in her wise aged voice. "You've done a wonderful job of watching our new friend for me, now go to your families and rest the night, tomorrow will be a busy day children."  

            Aiko stared incredulously at the miko as the girls bowed to her and the miko and left giggling.

            "Them…. take care of me?" She asked

            "Yes."

            "I can take care of myself thank you. I'm not that injured, you know!" the demon exclaimed indignantly.

            Miko slowly took herbs from a bowl beside her and began to crush them, filling the hut with fresh herb smells. "I needed to make sure you did not take leave of us too early. Besides, you enjoyed their company."

            "Sure I did." She replied sarcastically.

            "Just sleep."

            "I don't need to."          

            " Sleep." And the miko blew the freshly crushed herbs over the fire to her, they smelled sweet, like flowers in bloom, and soon the firelight faded and Aiko fell into a peaceful slumber. 

            Aiko awoke refreshed in the morning, very unlike her last awakening to pain. The sun had risen and now cast warm light through the roughly made door, shining gently on her relaxed form. The hut was empty, save for her, the fire out, and the herb smell faded slightly with the fresh air.  

            She rose and stretched, taking her sweet time, what's the rush? Nothing to worry about, the demon threat was gone and she was taken care of for the first time in months. 

However, outside the tiny shelter she heard the men of the village working, rebuilding the village destroyed by the ogre before her coming. "Maybe I should get up and help." She thought. Finishing her stretch, she straightened her clothes and concentrated on her appearance. She felt warmth spread over her as the stripes faded from her cheeks. Her ears rounded and her fangs, claws and tail disappeared, and last of all, her eyes darkened from pale green to a dark forest green, flecked with brown, her former bright emerald darkened by betrayal. Removing a ribbon from within her kimono, she tied up her hair in a messy knot at the base of her neck and stepped out into the light of a fresh morning.

            Outside, village men worked tirelessly to rebuild their homes. They used wood still intact from their destroyed homes and freshly cut wood and thatch to construct the homes. Several were already up, and in these few, women tended to children, and the younger adults, the teen villagers came in from the fields wielding what crops they could salvage from the trampled fields. The miko woman stood among the men constructing the buildings ordering them about. The village was unified, all happy, some sang as they worked. As Aiko stood in the doorway of the shack watching the united village, happy together as a community, her loneliness increased before she even realized she was lonely. 

            "Yokai-dono!" She heard little voices yell to her. She turned in the direction the voices came from, and running towards her were the three little girls, Mariko, Yukina, and Tomoi. The stopped a few feet from her and stared. Aiko stared back, reluctant to say anything. 

            The youngest, Mariko stepped forward, cocking her head to the side in confusion. "Yokai-dono," she asked. "Why are you human?"

            Aiko blinked, blinked again, and then began to laugh. "Ahahahah! Oh, I'm sorry, I can disguise myself as a human, it's still me."

            At that, the girls smiled widely, giggling and prancing about her, chanting her newly given name. "Yokai-dono! Yokai-dono!"

            The demon smiled, her loneliness fading, "Come now, I have a name!"

            "You do!?" Tomoi exclaimed. 

            It seems they didn't realize demons had names too. Aiko sighed, "Demons have names too, you know!" the girls stared up at her expectantly. She crossed her arms and huffed, "It's Aiko."

            "AIKO!!!" the girls screeched in delight, dancing about her and once again, giggling. _So carefree, _Aiko thought_, I used to be like that, back home…_

She was interrupted from her reverie as Yukina yelled out, "Let's play!"

            "Ah no, I was going to help the adults rebuild."

            "But," pouted Tomoi "that's a men's job! Come play with us!"  

            Now Aiko laughed. These kids really brought out the best of her, "Later, okay?"

            "Pinky promise?" Yukina asked.

            "Isn't that for between friends?"

            "But, you're our friend!" Mariko cried. 

            "I might have to leave." 

            "No!" they all cried.      

            "Please stay!" Yukina cried out. "You can't leave your new friends so soon, you have to stay and play with us sometime."

            Aiko was touched, "You want me to stay?"       

            "Yeah!" they all answered.

            "Okay, I promise I'll play with you later, and I won't leave for a while." 

            "Pinky promise?"          

            "Pinky promise!" And with that Aiko crossed pinkies with each girl in turn then left to aid the villagers. 

            Night set down upon the village after a day's long work. The cool breeze felt wonderful to Aiko after working all day long in her human form. In a single day, most of the houses had been roughly reconstructed, needing only slight individual corrections before being livable again. She collapsed in a heap of spare straw with a sigh. The village men laughed.            

            "So weary? There's more to be done tomorrow! Can you handle it?"    

            "What do you think?" was Aiko's response.      But the men weren't offended, they laughed, accepting Aiko, and incredibly thankful for her help, she did twice as much work as any man there. 

            "Well then my child, will you stay another day?" a voice asked form behind her. Aiko jumped, turning midair to face the intruder. It was the old miko of the village. 

            "How do you keep sneaking up on me?"           

            The miko smiled kindly, "Shall you stay."

            "Well of course!" Aiko snorted. "I'm not one to leave my work half-done, and I made a promise to play with the girls. I don't break my promises." She looked up at the miko, green eyes sparkling in the dimming air, "I'll be having to stay for a while, you know, my wounds need tending, rebuilding the village, it'll be a while before I get around to my promise, so I'll have to stay a few days with them to make up for it, you know." She finished with a grin. 

            The miko smile back, "We'll be glad to keep you for as long as you wish or you duties keep you here."

            "Well, I'll have to stay a long while then, I mean, you are all so defenseless against demons, what would you do without me? I'll have to make sure no demons attack until you better defend your village."

            " I see." Said the old miko. She smiled genuinely. "Welcome home."

Author's note: Oh my god, that's the first up-date, is one hell of a long time! Since November! So sorry to my reviewers, especially the faithful, you made me pick up the slack… (Now if only I'd do that with my cello playing, then I'd be on a roll.)

            Reviews make me happy. When I happy I write! So please Review!

Crystal Arrow


	10. Chapter 10: Trouble Follows

Lone Wolf

**I stand alone…**

**By Crystal Arrow**

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through your thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Ten: Trouble Follows

          And so Aiko finally had a home in the open arms of the small farming village. She lived with the old miko, taking to calling her grandmother (Obaasan), and supposedly earned her stay by acting as the defender of the village. Many a demon had come to the village, and everyone had fallen to Aiko's strength and superior fighting skills. This in turn resulted in a large collection of none other than shikon shards. Little did any of the villagers know that having the jewel shards in their possession attracted more demons to them, it never occurred to them, especially since all the monsters were so easily taken care of by their new demon in residence, so why worry?     

            Presently, the epitome of trouble itself was heading straight for that village. How can one tell? Because you can hear this from the distance: _WHUMP "_Damnit, Bitch!!!"

            "Inuyasha! Stop being mean to Shippo!" All the while, a small kitsune cub makes faces at the disgruntled inu hanyou from the miko's shoulders. The accompanying taiyija and houshi simply shake their heads at the all too common spectacle.        

            An argument ensues between the two until the miko, Kagome, abruptly perks up. "Kagome, is it a shikon shard?" Inuyasha, the inu hanyou asked.

            "Yeah, a few miles ahead, a lot of them!"

            "Let's go!" Inuyasha shouts. He crouches down allowing Kagome to climb onto his back.

            Sango, the taiyija calls to her demon companion, Kirara, who then transforms into a giant fire cat. She and the houshi both mount her back and the unlikely crew takes flight heading towards the shards ahead.  

            At the same time, the taiyoukai of the western lands just so happened to be patrolling his lands. He traveled in the woods avoiding the human villages on his land, choosing to reign over them silently rather than overbearingly. With him traveled a small toad demon, his retainer named Jaken; a small and overly adorable human child by the name of Rin; and his two headed dragon, Ah-Un. The taiyoukai himself was an inu yokai, cold and stoic, he was feared among all demons, but at the same time, more beautiful than most women. He traveled silently as Jaken complained loudly over the humming little girl arguing that such a worthless ningen should not have the honor to travel with his lord Sesshoumaru.

            Sesshoumaru stopped, looking ahead into the distance. "Jaken, take care of Rin." With that he took to his cloud and into the air, leaving the gaping Jaken behind to care for the mischievously grinning child.

            "Jaken! Let's pick some flowers!" Rin proclaimed giddily.

            "WHY!?!?!!" The poor toad cried to the demon lord, but he was already gone.

            And so, on this day, trouble befell the little village where Aiko had finally found a home.

            Aiko was dressed in a crude common kimono in her human form. She had long since mastered her three forms, and used them all to her advantage. However, for her everyday life in the village, she hid her demonic aura and lived as a human. Presently she worked in the rice fields with the other villagers. Long black hair was tied in a knot on the top of her head, stray wisps and curls falling into her face in a deliberate attempt to piss her off.  She stood and brushed her hair out of her face muttering, "I should just kill you damn it, just cut you all off and be done with it. Though, even then, you would probably find a way to piss me off wouldn't you, you fucking piece of shit!"

            The villagers closest to her laughed at her antics. "You know, Aiko," a teenage boy teased. "You shouldn't talk to yourself so violently, it's not healthy."

            "You're telling me." She answered laughing, as she recall her statement so long ago that had left her traveling alone for so long. _"From now on, I stand alone."_ That had to be the stupidest thing she'd ever set as a goal.

            Her demon senses flickered in acknowledgment of an approaching power. Aiko looked up at the sky, it was coming on noon, time for lunch. Hopefully the oncoming demons she sensed wouldn't ruin it, she happened to be hungry having missed breakfast sleeping in.

            "Hey! I gotta go to work, I'll be back later!" Aiko called out as she shouldered her pickings and headed towards the village. The villagers waved and wished her good luck while continuing with their work without a hint of worry.

            Aiko arrived at the old miko's home within a few minutes dropping her pickings by the door and stalking in. "Obaasan!" the demon girl called. 

            "I am right in front of you, child." The miko answered.

            Aiko giggled, "I know, but it's so much fun trying to scare you!"

            The old lady sighed. "What shall I do with ye?"

            "Give me my weapons, there's a demon on the way." Aiko stopped when her senses tingled again. "Make that four, but only two are a threat."

            "Whatever you say child. Will you allow me to try to persuade them to leave peacefully this time?"

            "Whatever, Obaasan. Hey, about daggers this time around?" Aiko asked as she fingered a pair of daggers the village blacksmith had made for her after she had successfully broken three katanas in her battles, thinking maybe these will last longer. And they had served Aiko well, still shining as they did the first day he had given them to her, made of polished steel, both with smooth leather hilts with inlayed vine designs. And engraved delicately into each dagger was a different message. "Faithful Protector." And "Never Alone." Both meant the world to her. Aiko strapped the sheathes to her thighs beneath the short skirt of her kimono, and then tied another longer skirt over her kimono so as to hide them. Thinking better of going into battle in a skirt, she removed the skirt and put on some pants, retying the sheathes over the pants and putting the skirt on over the pants, successfully hiding it.

As the demon in disguise finishing dressing, she glanced about the room. In the corner of the room set on a pedestal surrounded by candles lay several shards of crystal that she had found in the carcasses of her defeated adversaries. She didn't know what they were, but that they were infected with darkness. However, over time, these gems had brightened, and now shone silver in the warm light of the candles in the corner. Obaasan had said she sensed power from these jewel shards, but she herself did not have the power to purify in her old age, or harness their power. So they sat seemingly harmless in the corner, yet to Aiko, they beckoned. Like stars they shone, so like the night that she loved so much, but within their light, was darkness still. Turning, she sheathed her blades. Aiko quickly brushed her hair back out of her face, retying the knot as she stepped out of the small shack shortly followed by the miko, armed with a bow and arrows, prepared to face the oncoming threat.

            Together they strode towards the gate of the village to await its arrival. As they waited, and she sensed it draw closer and closer still, Aiko pondered, 'I don't know if it's just me, or maybe those stars that shine in that room, but wherever I go, no matter where that may be, trouble follows me.'

Author's Note:

            Woohooo!! School's over and now that my brain has successfully shut off for two weeks straight, I am back to writing! I'm pretty proud of this chapter despite its uneventfulness. Oh well. I'll try to write more, and finally get these stories moving. Please Review, they make me sooooo happy and really encourage me to write. And thanks especially to Runa Wanderer. My gosh, you review like crazy! But your encouragement really helps! Thank you to everyone who reviews, whether it's only once, or excessively! Thanks, and I'm so sorry for the waits!

Crystal Arrow


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